The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has reached an agreement with the Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBE) to supply the Egyptian bank with a $500 million scheme to support exports and investments by Egyptian businesses to other African countries.

The scheme is named the “Export Credit Support Scheme (ECSS)”. The scheme includes a selection of programs, products and services rendered by Afreximbank in partnership with the EBE to cushion them from the risk of non-payment of loans or advances in realizing short or medium-term export contracts.

The agreement was signed by the President of Afreximbank, Dr Benedict Oramah and Mervat Soltan, the chair-person of the EBE. To avail this scheme, the benefactors must be citizens of Egypt, while the products must also be of Egyptian origin. Imports also must be acquired from one of Afreximbank’s member countries.

At the signing ceremony, Dr. Oramah promised that the ECSS will work towards assisting Egyptian exporters develop their industries and help further their export quantities on the African continent. The goal of the scheme will be bridge the gap between African exporters and those from more developed nations.

The ECSS, is being implemented in the context of strategic initiatives of both banks to boost industrialization and intra-African trade, supported the development objectives of Egypt and would further deepen Afreximbank’s relationship with Egypt and the Egyptian financial sector, noted the president.

Ms Soltan also shared her thoughts, saying that this agreement represented the strong values shared by both these institutions and their common goal of achieving the growth of trade and investment among African nations. She also elaborated on the EBE’s long history of acting as a link for Egyptian businesses to those in other African nations, adding that this experience will help in the implementation of this latest scheme.

The EBE and Afreximbank signed the agreement during the Africa 2017 Forum in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt.

The Africa 2017 Forum took place between 7th and 9th December 2017 and worked as a platform for discussion between government heads, private sector leaders and business leaders in Africa and the rest of the world to discuss a wide range of subjects ranging from business and development issues to policies in Africa.